Storm weakens in Gulf but still may strengthen

Area has wary eye on BarryStorm soaks Fla., but course unclear

Despite weakening in the Gulf of Mexico overnight, Tropical Storm Barry, which drenched Florida Thursday, could still gain momentum and strike the Texas Gulf Coast by late Sunday or early next week, forecasters said.

The second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Barry formed in the eastern Gulf Thursday. "If it impacts our area, it would be Sunday or Monday," said Bill Read, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Houston/Galveston office.

The slow-moving storm was too far out in the eastern Gulf to determine where it may hit land, Read said, but a storm that forms in the Gulf always makes landfall because it has nowhere else to go. Barry's projected path could also take it to Louisiana. But an upper ridge of high pressure north of the storm may push it toward the South Texas coast, forecasters said.

Barry weakened slightly today as it headed toward Louisiana after drenching parts of Florida with as much as 8 inches of rain that flooded streets and homes.

"During the night, the upper level winds came and disrupted the circulation," said Lixion Avila, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. "It's weakening now, but if it survives the next 24 hours, it can regenerate."

A reconnaissance plane was flying into the storm's center to monitor its intensity, Avila said.

Tornadoes were possible along the southwest Florida coast. Coastal flooding was possible in southeast Louisiana, the center said.

At 10 a.m., the storm was about 185 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was moving west-northwest at 7 mph with maximum sustained winds at about 40 mph.

The Houston area and the upper Texas coast can expect a slight chance of showers or thunderstorms Sunday.

Emergency officials are prepared to warn Bolivar Peninsula residents if the tides increase enough to cover Texas 87 leading to and from the locale, Nicholson said.

The storm dumped several inches of rain on portions of Central and South Florida on Thursday, with more expected today. Southeast Louisiana may have some flooding today, the weather service predicted.

Martin County, north of West Palm Beach on Florida's east coast, declared a state of emergency after 8 inches of rain fell from midnight Wednesday to noon Thursday, flooding streets and homes and stranding many residents.